Abū Nuwās, of mixed Arab and Persian heritage, studied in Basra and al-Kūfah, first under the poet Wālibah ibn al-Ḥubāb, later under Khalaf al-Aḥmar. He also studied the Qurʾān (Islāmic sacred scripture), Ḥadīth (traditions relating to the life and utterances of the Prophet), and grammar and is said to have spent a year with the Bedouins in the desert to acquire their traditional purity of language.

Abū Nuwās’ initial appearance at the ʿAbbāsid court in Baghdad met with little success; his alliance with the Barmakids, the ʿAbbāsid viziers, forced him to seek refuge in Egypt when the Barmakid dynasty collapsed. On his return to Baghdad, however, his panegyrics earned the favour of the caliphs Hārūn ar-Rashīd and al-Amīn, and he enjoyed great success in the ʿAbbāsid court until his death.

The language of Abū Nuwās’ formal odes (qasidas) is grammatically sound and based on the old Arab traditions; his themes, however, are drawn from urban life, not the desert. He is particularly renowned for his poems on wine and pederasty. His verse is laced with humour and irony, reflecting the genial yet cynical outlook of the poet, who spent much of his life in pursuit of pleasure.